SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/9/2023 8:53 AM
“A
great prayer and an uncompromising prayer. We once knew in our own
country the meaning of an uncompromising life. Even Aesop in his fables
knew the price of compromise. Aesop speaks in one of his fables about the
time when the beasts and the fowls were engaged in war. The bat tried to
belong to both parties, says Aesop. And when the birds were victorious,
the bat would wing around telling them he was a bird. And when the beasts
won a fight, he would walk around among them assuring everyone that he was a
beast. But soon his hypocrisy was discovered and he was rejected by both
the beasts and the birds, and consequently he had to hide himself all day long
and could only appear at night. Compromise.
“Daniel wouldn’t compromise. Neither
would Mishael, Azariah or Hananiah. And what were the results of their
uncompromising life? Let’s go back and look at them. And we said
there were some things that come out as characteristics and consequences of an
uncompromising life. I’m just going to mention the ones we talked about
last time, and then we’ll go on to the rest of them.
“First of all, when you live a life
that doesn’t compromise, that doesn’t fall prey to the lifestyle of the world,
that doesn’t sell out at any price, you will find, number one, an unashamed
boldness, an unashamed boldness. In verse 8, Daniel said to the prince of
the eunuchs, “Tell the king I can’t eat his food it will defile me.” And
I told you last time there would have been a lot of other things he could have
said that would have been easier.
“He didn’t have to be so blatant
about the fact that the king’s food would defile him, but one of the
characteristics of an uncompromising strong stand where someone has convictions
is that that individual has an unashamed boldness to speak the truth. He
could have hemmed and hawed about the fact that he wasn’t used to the king’s
diet, or he was so used to Jewish food that it wasn’t agreeing with his
stomach, and he was going to have an upset stomach, and he could have wormed
his way out of it. But no, there was a tremendous confrontation about the
fact that it violated God’s law and it would be a defilement to Him.
“And we find that he had this
unashamed boldness. When they came to him later and said, “You’re not
allowed to pray,” he went to his window, threw the window wide open, and prayed
like he always did, just as boldly as ever, because that’s the character of
uncompromising spirit.
“Secondly, we saw last time that an
uncompromising life not only has an unashamed boldness, but secondly, an
uncommon standard, an uncommon standard. It says, “He did not eat the
king’s food, nor the wine which the king drank.” In verse 12, “He ate
only vegetables and water,” which means he didn’t eat any meat from any source
and he didn’t drink any wine from any source. Now, that wasn’t required,
that was an uncommon standard, that was a cut above.
“And you remember last time, I told
you, that in the Old Testament when it came to the priests, and it came to
those who wanted to take the deepest vow of consecration, and when you come
into the New Testament, and you look at John the Baptist, the greatest man that
ever lived up until his time, and then you look not only at John the Baptist,
but at the elders of the church, you find that in all of these high places,
there is a statement that they are not to be given to wine.
“Those who are given high spiritual
responsibility have an uncommon standard. He chose to live on another
level. And we suggest to you that an uncompromising life doesn’t play on
the edge of the best. It chooses the highest and the noblest standard of
all, no matter what the price.
“For months Eric Liddell trained as
a track athlete for the purpose of winning the 100-meter race in the Olympics
of 1924. Sports writers all over the country predicted that Liddell would
win the 100 meters. And then he learned that the 100-meter race in 1924
in the Olympics was scheduled for Sunday. This posed a problem.
Eric believed that he could not honor God by running in the contest on the
Lord’s day. His fans were stunned by his refusal. Some who had
praised him began to call him a fool, and the press laughed at Eric Liddell,
because he wouldn’t run on Sunday.
“Suddenly, a runner dropped out of
the 400-meter race and they had no alternate to take his place, and it was
scheduled for a week day. Eric offered to fill the slot even though this
is four times as long as the race he had trained to run. When he ran the
race, Eric Liddell won the race. In 1924, he ran 47.8 seconds.
Incredible time. And he was a winner.
“God gave him his gold medal.
God honored his non-compromising spirit. Later, Eric Liddell went to
China as a missionary, and in 1945 he died there in a war camp, ever as
uncompromising as he had been before.
“It just seems to me, that people,
who really make a difference in the world, set a standard that is a cut above
everybody else. It isn’t the required thing. It’s just that extra
noble step that sets them apart.
“So, an uncompromising life issues in
an unashamed boldness and an uncommon standard. And thirdly, we shared
last time that it results in an unearthly protection, an unearthly
protection. I believe God unusually protects those who are
uncompromising. Verse 9, “God brought Daniel into favour and compassion
with the prince of the eunuchs.” That’s amazing. “God brought
Daniel into favour and compassion with the prince of the eunuchs.”
“Daniel didn’t have to play politics
to gain that, did he? We learned last week. Daniel was given that
by God, who controls the heart of every living being. And if God wants
them to be kind to you, then He’ll take care of it. You don’t have to
compromise to gain your ends. You don’t have to compromise to gain the
goals you think you must attain. To do so is to eliminate divine
protection, but to be uncompromising is to invite the protection of God
Himself.
“I’d rather stand bold-face to the
king and condemn his sin and have God on my side than wiggle out of it and have
the king on my side and God against me, wouldn’t you? Because God can
control the heart of the king.
12/9/2023 8:54 AM
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